FOI reveals Bolton Council paid out £10 million to former employees over last 5 years

ALMOST £10 million has been paid out to former employees of Bolton Council over the past five years, new figures have revealed.

The Bolton News has obtained data which shows the authority has spent £9,735,000 to 1,095 staff who left the council under a voluntary severance or redundancy agreement since 2008 — an average of £8,890 each.

The most payouts were handed out between April, 2011 and March, 2012, when £4.92 million was paid out.

I am a journalist and author. I am a staff writer at the UK edition of WIRED magazine and in 2015 my book, Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. I created FOI Directory in 2012.